Inside of You
Excuses kill personal growth. Personal growth happens when we overcome a self-limiting belief (like people buy based on price) or a hidden weakness (like a high need to be liked). When you make an excuse for lack of performance (our prices are too high, our software is too slow) then you are not focusing your energy where it needs to be focused. You are looking outside and not inside. The biggest problem is that by not looking inside yourself you will never uncover the obstacles that are holding you back. So even if the software gets faster, and your prices get lower, your performance will only increase marginally and will only last as long as those conditions persist. You will be like a basketball player who can only score when guarded by someone shorter and slower than him. You want to be more like the top basketball players who work on their game all summer, so that when the season starts they can score from anywhere on the court no matter who is guarding them.
Why Information is not enough
Joe Friday Just wanted the facts … the information … unadorned. Salespeople need more than information. Just knowing what the prospect wants is not enough. You need to know why they need it. What happens if they don’t get it? What is the context behind the need? Is there a compelling reason to have it? Is there a cost monetary or otherwise to not having it? How is their life affected by not having it? Who else thinks we need it? Who else is affected by not having it? How is the operation affected by not having it? How did we get along without it up to now? Are there alternatives they have considered and rejected? Why did they reject them? Anyway, you get the idea. If you were the salesperson who only knew what the prospect needed, don’t you think you would be at a disadvantage to the competitor who had the answers in great detail to all of the above questions? Don’t be that salesperson!
It’s Not About When, It’s About Why
Urgency is an integral part of the compelling reason to buy. It may seem that knowing when they need something defines the urgency. However, consider the difference between these two situations. “I need it by June 3rd because I am making a presentation to the board of directors on June 4th.” OR “ I want it by June 3rd “. Sometimes it is a good idea to ask what happens if you don’t get it by June 3rd? If they say “no big deal we’ll get it in July, then there really is no urgency. If they describe a problem that will occur then there is real urgency to get the purchase made. Knowing when the decision must be made is good to know. But knowing why it must be made by then is critical to establishing urgency.
Body Language
Reading what a person means by their facial expression or the way they hold their body can be very dangerous. Reading body language can tell you things if you are expert at it. But it can lead to misinterpretations and confusion if you just have a passing acquaintance with how to interpret what you see. One thing you can and should do is notice when the body language shifts dramatically and ask a question about it. Don’t interpret anything, don’t assume, don’t guess, just ask. The video gives a couple of good examples at about the 1 minute mark.
Look for Consequences
To determine the prospect’s compelling reason to buy we need to understand more than what the problem is. We need to understand and get the prospect to verbalize what consequences the prospect will have (or is having) if the problem is not addressed. If the consequences are not severe, then you may be dealing with a situation where it would be nice to have the problem addressed but there is no compelling reason to fix it now. If there is no compelling reason to address the problem the sale will be derailed by even the slightest obstacle. Understanding what will happen if the problem is not addressed gets you one step closer to understanding the pain the prospect is in and whether there is urgency to eliminate it. Remember that it is extremely important to have the prospect verbalize the pain. It is not enough that you know that it must exist based on your experience.
Make A Commitment
If you are not selling enough check your commitment. It is not the commitment to work hard that is most important. It is not even the commitment to working smart (whatever that means) that matters. What matters is your commitment to follow your sales process. You don’t just quote because the prospect asked you to if they are not yet qualified. You don’t make premature presentations. You ask the tough questions. You talk about money naturally. You do all of the things you know you have to do but sometimes avoid. If you are not committed to doing all of these things then you not expect the prospect to make commitments to buy from you. If you do your par the rest will take care of itself. By the way, if you don’t have a sales process that you follow religiously, then be committed to get one and follow it.
Use Your Knowledge
Most salespeople know a lot and totally misuse the knowledge. They feel compelled to dispense what they know to the prospect in great detail and at the slightest provocation, thinking all the while that they are building credibility and demonstrating why the prospect should buy from them. Think about that for a while and then think how you react to salespeople who do that to you when you are the buyer. In reality, the best use of your knowledge is as a basis from which to ask questions. If you know the product and know the industry then you can ask more intelligent questions and glean more information than the novice who can only ask superficial questions. You will be able to recognize pain indicators when you hear them and follow up to get to the compelling reason to buy. Meanwhile, the novice misses the opportunity to follow up because they do not understand or appreciate the significance of what the prospect says. You know a lot and when you use that knowledge correctly then you have a much better chance of demonstrating your knowledge y the intelligent questions you ask.
Have Elevator Questions
The proverbial elevator pitch should be replaced by elevator questions. No one wants to hear a pitch … EVER! The easiest way to start a conversation in networking situations, chamber events, and yes even elevators is to ask questions. It can be innocuous (like “Did you go to Harvard or just liked the T-Shirt?”), or it can be business oriented (So what do you do?) In either case you get the conversation going by focusing on them and then you can lead it to a discussion of issues they may be having that you can help with. Eventually you will get a chance to tell them what you do and, magically, it will be right on target and help you create a connection and possibly a new client.
Asking the Tough Questions
A tough sales question is tough only because your belief system has made it tough. A high school boy believes he is not attractive to girls. It will be a very tough question for him to ask a girl out on a date. Similarly, if you believe you should not talk about money with a sales prospect, asking a prospect what they are willing to spend will be a very tough question indeed. The secret to asking a tough sales question is to make a question easy to ask and you do that by changing your belief systems. Your product will solve the client’s problems and is worth the price you are asking for it. You have a right to be paid for the great solution you offer. If the prospect doesn’t have the budget, why waste your valuable time? Change your belief system so that it becomes right and appropriate for you to ask the money question. The money question will no longer be tough at all. Go ask that girl out on a date because you are worth it! It’s easy.
Price is a conceptual thing, not an objective thing
Price is a conceptual thing, not an objective thing. We tend to think of price as something fixed and objective. No matter how much a prospect desparately must have what we offer, we are certain they will never buy it if it costs more than a standard price they are willing to pay. If your product or service is greater than an established price, you are too expensive. If it is less, your solution is affordable. Throw that thinking away! Price is not objective. It is conceptual. Price is directly related to the pain your product or service eliminates. If a magic wand that would heal a loved one of a terminal disease is available for purchase for $ 1 million, you would find a way to raise that amount of money to buy that wand. Similarly, if your product or service resolves a huge problem a prospect is burdened with, they would pay a king’s ransom for your solution! Price is directly proportional to the pain that the item being purchased solves. Discover your prospect’s inner pain. Find a solution that your products or services offers to end that prospect’s pain. Feel good about the expense of what you have to offer. It’s worth the price! It solves a huge problem for a client! Price is conceptual – believe your solution solves the deep pain of prospects and you will know it is priceless.